“Do you and your family still live in Kyiv?” we asked Eugeniya Bagina when we interviewed her for our blog. “Yes!” she replied and she sent us a small movie. It showed a little dog playing among yellow, fallen leaves. It was a bright sunny day and the movie inspired a sense of peace and serenity.
“The day before yesterday was very scary,” she continued. “We saw the smoke of the explosions from the window. We heard explosions…” After a statement like that the silence becomes almost palpable and the words elusive. “Is there anything you would like the world to know about how you're holding on?” we inquired. “Work saves me,” she replied. “This is my perfect world.”
It only takes one look at Eugeniya’s toys to get the feeling that she is living in a special, magical world. Once upon a time the Ukrainian artist saw a felted toy on the internet and decided to try to make something similar. With no artistic background, she started with free video lessons and learned the basics.
Hard work combined with Eugeniya’s talent soon paid off and this is how a new world was born, a world of incredibly sophisticated toys, full of wonderful details. The main material the toys are made of is wool, but their maker loves adding polymer clay details. If you look closely you can easily notice noses, paws, hooves and other parts of the toys skillfully shaped out of polymer clay. Some toys also have their own toys to keep them company. Eugeniya has a series of dolls which have polymer clay faces. When asked where she finds inspiration she replied that her imagination is often stirred by children's books illustrations, doll exhibitions and the works of other artists.
Many people would believe that a mandatory condition for being a toy maker is to have a studio full of equipment. Well, apparently not! “My workplace is at the kitchen table,” Eugeniya told us. “I love cooking so much. I bake a cake and I make a toy, for example, at the same time. And everyone is happy!” Speaking about the tools she could not create without, the artist mentions wool, needles, glue and polymer clay.
We were curious what the process from the first idea to final artwork looks like and Eugeniya divulged that it depends on the project. The process of creating a new toy starts with an idea sketched in her mind and the first thing she creates is the toy’s face. She mentions that the part of the creating process that she enjoys most is when the toy starts to look alive.
Toys are the tools children use to learn and develop skills and they have a powerful influence on children’s thinking. Dolls, figurines and decorative toys foster imagination, language and social skills. Toys have the magical power to improve children’s abilities and skills, preparing them for life.
Although she lives in a country that is currently ravaged by war and uncertainty, through her creations Eugeniya manages to put wide smiles on the faces of many people throughout the world. Being a toy maker is sometimes the greatest form of therapy.
